The Worst Reason For Not Cleaning Up A Hoard....

“When you get rid of a beautiful thing a part of your soul diminishes”....
The house was pile full of “beautiful things” that were being trampled and uncared for. The same kind of thinking when a possessive person doesn’t care for their spouse and neglects or abuses them but refuses to let them go.

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4meAndyou · F

I,(used to?),have a good friend who is a hoarder. Aside from the physical health issues associated with living in a home that can NOT ever be dusted or thoroughly vacuumed or properly cleaned, there are mental health issues associated with hoarding.

All hoarders have one thing in common, and that is an unresolved and unresolvable, sense of deep loss. In the hoarder's mind, the things he or she saves or hoards become immensely valuable, even if the rest of the world perceives them as junk, and are somehow linked to the loss that traumatized them.

I watched one episode of the show, Hoarders, where the woman was hoarding pots and pans. When the pots and pans were pared down and most of them were actually removed right in front of her, the woman broke down into deep gut wrenching sobs.

I have not heard about the link to possessive people who neglect their spouses, but since I have experienced that, in my last marriage, I tend to think that is more a function of narcissism, control, and punishment of someone whom the narcissist perceives as rebelling against their control.

cherokeepatti · 61-69, F

@4meAndyou I believe there might be some who contracted the same virus that is linked to cat hoarding....some of the hoarders on the shows have accumulated a number of pets. One neighbor family of mine when I was a teen was animal hoarder and it lead to hoarding other things. They had more animals than any family could take care of much less keep the house clean etc....it overflowed into the yard. When all of the dishes were dirty they’d use paper plates, tell the youngest boy to burn the trash and some of it would blow in the wind to our acreage....and I think most of us have experienced losses in our lives, what makes some think they can fill the void with stuff while others do other things to deal with the loss is what I find interesting.

4meAndyou · F

@cherokeepatti It's so sad when a human begins to hoard cats as though they were possessions instead of living creatures. I am sure that there is a virus associated with pet hoarding...perhaps several.

My friend who is unable to part with his hoarded items is more likely to be suffering from toxic mold. All of his things smell moldy.

cherokeepatti · 61-69, F

@4meAndyou mold can cause brain fog and that itself can cause them not to think clearly in how to organize their stuff, it’s a downward spiral from then on. I think the cat hoarders had good intentions in rescuing abandoned cats. They say the virus makes them more likely to start hoarding, and the virus is more present in feral or abandoned cats that may eat garbage like raw meat or catch mice that has it or hang out with other infected cats.